Haventree Bank launches online bank, targets Canadian fintechs

Haventree originally operated as Equity Financial Trust before rebranding in 2018 after obtaining its Schedule I license. The bank’s core business has been B-lending – making mortgages to borrowers who don’t qualify for prime loans from Canada’s Big Six banks. Those customers may have lower credit scores, complex income histories, or be self-employed without T-4 slips. Glowinsky said many are not underbanked; they simply use Haventree as a secondary lender.

Demand for alternative lenders has been rising in Canada as home affordability drops and lending rules tighten, BNN Bloomberg has reported. Self-employed workers and entrepreneurs often struggle to get loans from traditional banks that require T-4 income verification. Haventree’s new deposit product lets it serve those same customers with everyday banking, not just mortgages.

The move puts Haventree in a crowded field. EQ Bank and Wealthsimple already offer no-fee accounts with competitive rates. Glowinsky argued that Haventree can stand out with good rates and a focused product set. She also noted that more Canadians are spreading money across multiple institutions, partly because CDIC deposit insurance caps at $100,000 CAD per individual per institution.

For now, Haventree is not trying to match the full product suite of a Big Six bank. It is betting that a narrow, well-executed digital offering will attract customers who already use alternative lenders for mortgages. The question is whether that niche is big enough to support another player.